Category Archives: Thoughts on Viernes

It’s out! The new Jay Perez cd was released and ready for purchase from Freddie Records or your tejano record shop. As was posted recently, it’s not your regular anthology. It’s 15 of your favorite songs-re-done– from Jay Perez’s career from his days with Latin Breed, David Lee Garza y Los Musicales, and the beginnings of his solo career.

Produced by Grammy-winning producer Gilbert Velasquez, Perez adds a new twist to the vocals–mostly in the way he delivers these tunes live. The music is flawless and Perez is still the best vocalist in the business. So, if you recall tunes like Don Luis El Tejano, Poquito A Poco, Que Tristeza, Ella Es, and others, then you’ll love this production.

And we await the canvassing and date-setting for Round 2 of Garcia vs Alvarado. Both campaigns have wasted no time in analyzing the results, whether it was the election day finish of Alvarado, or the fact that Garcia actually won a majority of the State Rep. districts in the Senate District. Each side has claimed momentum of some sort, and they are both back at work raising cash to deploy their resources again. Definitely, stay tuned.

Rootin’ For Hillary…

…to have a nice break. Don’t get me wrong, I was Team Hillary during the Texas Two-Step thing, and I like her in 2016, but there’s work to do now. Heck, seems we even have to convince our current Prez to stop the deportations and “secure border” talk. It’s never appeased the Republicans, what’s different, now? Have a nice break, Sec. Clinton–unless you want to take the lead on CIR, then go right ahead. It could help you in 2016.

The expert everyone turns to is thinking something like 15,000 will end up voting. Well, OK, then, that’s what I said, too, at least at the low end. That said, I’ve been asked if DC is endorsing. If my posts, especially early on, didn’t tell you, well, I’m just shocked!

I’m rooting for the candidate who was supportive of Latinos. Engaged. United. Voting. from the get-go. I’m going with the candidate who didn’t always need an elected position to be a voice for the community. I’m urging voters to support the candidate who put Latino issues on a national platform while heading up a national organization. Of course, all of this is above-and-beyond her experience as City Controller and County Commissioner. And I’m supporting the candidate who is right on the issues.

The thing is, it doesn’t take much to get my support. All it takes is a call, usually, and if I really like you, well, heck, I’m quite the softy.

Of course, one of the other candidates was also supportive of LEUV, so Joaquin Martinez gets props, too. If anything, he caught my eye because he took on the establishment. We need more like him, too. An earlier call and I might have gone all rebel, too.

So, there you go. Will there be a run-off? Will the candidate I support deliver a knock-out punch in round-one? All I know is that I’ll be at home at 7pm on Saturday clicking [REFRESH] until the early vote is posted. Good luck to all, though!

Obama Said to Unveil Immigration Plan Soon

The Hill is reporting that President Obama will be announcing some of the framework for his immigration plan prior to the big unveiling at the State of the Union in February. Obama, Democrats, and Republicans seem to be far away from each other, at times, so talk of “deals” being struck worry the hell out of me. Some of my pro-migrant friends have basically said that it won’t happen given the divide. Others continue pushing the DREAM Act only as a first step. I’ve always supported a system overhaul because it’s needed. Then again, I’m not an immigrant kid who’s gotten “DACAmented” yet her family is swept up in raid.

I just want to give a “Congrats!” to Houston ISD’s new Board President, Anna Eastman. I’m sure she’ll run some smooth meetings

She said she wants the school district to focus on ensuring more students complete higher education.

I like that focus!

All That Political Capital!

Let me preface this by saying I like the Obama-Biden plan on curbing gun violence. We don’t need assault rifles to be readily accessible, we don’t need huge gun clips, and everything else they mention. I’m there. That said, with all the political capital they are about to expend on this effort, will anything be left for immigration reform?

I’m the first to say that Obama cannot win CIR alone, but we do need a strong Presidential push that will encourage activists to stand up to right-wing nonsense on the issue. Heck, we even need VP Joe Biden to get involved and burst out in his colorful commentary (BFD). But I’ll say it–this whole anti-gun-violence push has me worried. I hope they use the same resources to push for immigration reform.

SD-6 Early Voting Weekend!

Pick an early voting location. Pick any early voting location and get it done! Over 5,000 have now voted. That leaves another 279,000 (or so) that can still vote. Go for it!

Music Break: Los Texmaniacs and Los Lobos in Austin Tonight!

Here is what I’m hoping happens tonight. To those going…have fun for me!

After a terrible night and morning for the Andiola family, it’s been confirmed that Erika’s mom has been released as ICE used its prosecutorial discretion. This whole episode points to something bigger: We need comprehensive immigration reform!

Waltrip Ram Band Needs Your Help!

The Chron has the story about this high school band invited to perform at inaugural activities in Washington DC. They are thousands of dollars short at the moment and every little bit counts. Make your donation. Click on the link to make yours.

Thanks for returning to DosCentavos.net where we try to give you good opinion, sometimes some news, and links to cool stuff and events. Stay connected as we add some more guest posters, including a roving bloguero who will be where all the action is–the State Capitol in Austin!

Al Gore’s Current TV sold to the expanding news service. I had recently become a fan of Current since I discovered on my cable service, but I immediately noticed that all of the shows did not have any Latinos or minorities speaking for the liberals. We are out there, you know! Maybe Al-Jazeera America will expand the palette when it comes to minority talking heads. We shall see.

NHPO to Host Meet The Candidates Breakfast

Doneraki’s Gulfgate will be the site of an SD-6 Candidate breakfast on Saturday, January 12 at 10AM. Hosted by the National Hispanic Professional Association, the breakfast is $15 and you will get to hear the candidates sell their political wares. It should be a good one.

Either the newly minted candidate for SD-6 has a lot of fans or his opponents have gone on a frenzy clicking on the post I did about him, but Joaquin Martinez seems to have at least blown the lid off of DosCentavos.net with a lot of views and visitors.

After asking him about how he felt about NewsFix’s report on him, which included some sarcasm about him, Joaquin stated he’s not running away from any lack of candidate experience and that he’s running a truly grassroots campaign that will highlight his passion for serving the community. Obviously, that means he’s taking it to the voters.

Well, 2012 was a good year for my kind of politics, and 2013 should be even better. I keep saying I want to grow this blog, just haven’t decided which direction to take. Making it “newsy” would take a lot of time, and keeping it a daily opinion kind of place is boring for me, which explains the fact that I only did about 350 posts this year. One thing is for sure. I do intend to reach 5,000 posts during this 8th year of DosCentavos, and I’m sure the City Elections will give me plenty of material, along with everything else I write about.

Personal Highlights of 2012

Working with my great friend Julia Maldonado again was a highlight, and the fact that she won Harris County (lost the other 10 counties, but winning the home county truly was huge) has given me great hope for her future, should she run again. She’s a good candidate on paper, but she’s even better on the ground and willing to put in the sweat equity to win a race. Keep an eye on her!

Of course, the best thing that happened to me was moving into the Big City of Sharpstown, TX. Sure, I left some good Liberals in Kingwood, but I gained a community with which I intend to connect more often, become more involved, and of which I will become an active member. Why should the civic club folks have all the fun, right?

Last Music Break of 2012 – Raul Malo at Gruene Hall – Here Comes The Rain

Well, we’re still alive. Unfortunately for Republicans, that means at least 520 more years of Latino population growth.

Congrats to the Prez

President Obama was named Time’s Person of the Year. He is credited for basically bringing people together, but Time’s chief goes as far as saying he’s the “architect of this new America.” Well, I wouldn’t go that far. Let’s face it, if any persons brought people together to form this “new America” I would credit the Republicans and their divisive rhetoric and political tactics. What this “new America” did send to Obama and Democrats (and the divisive Republicans) was a message: Get the job done! And once it’s done, then by all means, name the Prez the POY for 2016.

Hotze Under the Collar

And under our skin as voters, apparently, as pro-urban-deterioration advocate Bruce Hotze has filed a frivolous lawsuit against the City of Houston over the bonds the vast majority of voters approved. Some folks just enjoy wasting time and taxpayer dollars, I guess.

So, I, along with my sisters, attended the Holiday Party put on by the local Democratic Women’s clubs and, as always, it was a blast. Held at Planned Parenthood, the highlight for me was listening to two great speeches from SD-6 candidates Sylvia Garcia and Carol Alvarado. Each, in their own way, has been at the front lines fending off the Republican War on Women, so, the fact that there are two Latinas with a strong record of supporting a Woman’s right to choose in the running to represent a predominantly Latino seat is a pretty exciting thing.

Good music by Carli Mosier and the band; great food and desserts; and some amazing libations were the icing on the cake. And yes, there was cake!

Grier Rewarded…

But for what? Should Houston ISD be giving money out like it’s going out of style? One thing is rebuilding high schools for kids–that’s an investment in the future. But a $115K salary bonus, part of it for being “satisfactory”? His tenure wasn’t even up until 2014! Anyway, my good friend Juliet Stipeche voted against it and she is to be commended for taking a stand. Unfortunately, my own trustee voted for the giveaway. Anyone ready to run against him?

After being very well represented in the Tejano category of the Latin Grammys, the newly combined Mexican/Tejano category of the GringoGrammys has NO Tejano artists. I call it disrespect of a genre that is still quite strong, especially when it comes to the quality of musicianship. Who’s in charge? The HoustonRodeo people? Anyway…

The Latino Vote in Harris County

Kuff has a great breakdown of how the election went in Harris County’s predominantly Latino districts. Needless to say, the Dems did well, while the Ted Cruz factor caused little crossover by Latinos. Had Paul Sadler been better funded, perhaps that would have put a dent in the number of Cruz crossovers who probably did it for the name or the “historic first” factors. Latinos in Harris County are still strongly Democratic voters, and this can only improve with the continued levels anti-Latino sentiment in the GOP–let’s face it, their attempts to soften have flopped, big-time.